Dust Binding Device and Method

ABSTRACT

A method for finding dust generated when air drilling and mixing this dust with liquid. The apparatus comprises a mixing chamber in fluid communication with a liquid tank. A plurality of inlet ports extend into the mixing chamber from the fluid tank. As dust passes through the mixing chamber dust binds with the liquid from the fluid tank.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method that capturesdust during air drilling. Oil is a product of the decomposition of tinyplants and animals that died in the ancient seas between to 10 and 600million years ago. The dead organisms would sink into the sand and mudat the sea floor. In these layers, there was little or no oxygenpresent, so the organisms would break down into carbon-rich compoundsthat formed organic material. This organic material mixes with thesediment, and new sedimentary layers are deposited on top of thematerial mixture. The new sedimentary layers exert heat and pressureonto the organic material. The addition of the heat and pressureproduces the crude oil and natural gas. After that particular process,the oil flows from the source rock into the reservoir rock which iseither sandstone or limestone.

Geologists find oil reserves by examining the surface features. Once anoil reserve is detected, the oil company prepares the land. First, theland is cleared and leveled. Water must be available for drilling, and awell will be drilled if there is no natural source available. Then thecrew digs the reserve pit which serves for the disposal of rock cuttingsand drilling mud.

After the land is prepared, the crew digs several holes for the rig andthe main hole. Then a cellar, which is a rectangular hole dug around theactual drilling hole, is created. The cellar provides a work space forthe workers. The crew sets up the oil rig and begins drilling. The drillbit, collar, and drill pipe are placed in the hole. The drill bit cutsup the rock while the collar fits around the drill pipe and providesweight to the drill bit. The kelly and turntable are attached anddrilling begins. The kelly is a four or six-sided pipe that transfersrotary motion to the turntable and drill string. The turntable usespower from the motor to perform the rotational motion of the drill. Rockcuttings are removed from the hole by circulating mud out of the bitthrough the pipe. As the hole gets deeper, new sections are added to thedrill pipes. Once the preset depth is reached, the drill pipe, collarand bit are removed. Afterwards, a casing pipe is placed in the hole toprevent collapsed and is cemented in place.

After drilling the hole, the crew tests for oil, and once the oil hasbeen confirmed, they lower in a perforating gun. The gun creates tinyholes in the casing so that oil can flow through. A small pipe is thenplaced into the hole in order to bring the oil up. A Christmas treeplaced on top of the casing allows the crew to control the oil. In orderto start the flow of oil acid is pumped into the well if the reservoirrock is limestone. The acid creates channels in the limestone for theoil to flow. For sandstone, a special fluid containing proppants isused. Proppants are sand, walnut shells, or aluminum pellets. The fluidcreates a pressure which causes small fractures in the sandstone, andthe proppants force the fractures to remain open. The present inventionprovides a novel method and apparatus for air drilling.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In air drilling, air is used to collect the rock cuttings that occur inthe drill hole during the drilling process. Air is circulated throughoutthe oil rig. The air will also take up any dust created during thedrilling process. The present invention provides a method and apparatusfor collecting the dust created during the air drilling process.

The present invention includes a mixing chamber incorporated into theair flow line. In the mixing chamber, the dust is mixed with water tocreate mud which is then stored into a reserve pit. The presentinvention also includes the attachment of a fluid tank to store thewater and an extra pipe line to circulate the water through the oil rig.The fluid pipe line connects to the air flow line by way of a pluralityof inlet ports. The inlet ports allow the water to flow into the mixingchamber.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the oil rig components with presentedinvention installed.

FIG. 1 a is a cutaway view of the oil rig components showing presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a cutaway view of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an internal view of the present invention.

FIG. 4 a is a cutaway view of the binding process with the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION

As depicted in FIG. 1, the present invention (10) works in conjunctionwith a normal oil rig system that uses the process of air drilling. Indrilling for oil on land, there are two types of processes that can beused. One is a water-based system that circulates fluid mud to removerock cuttings from the drilling hole, and the other is air drillingwhich uses air or another type of gas instead of water-based mud. Airdrilling is the less expensive of the two options, and it is commonlynot used in areas where the rock is not self-supporting and there arehigh formation pressures.

An oil rig is divided into multiple systems: the power system, themechanical system, circulation system, and rotating equipment. Thepresent invention is specifically for the air drilling process. Thepower system (not shown) contains the parts that run the oil rig. Theoil rig is normally powered by a large diesel engine (200) which usesdiesel fuel oil to operate an electrical engine. The mechanical systemincludes the hoisting system. The hoisting system (210) is designed forlifting heavy loads by way of a winch with a large steel cable spool,block-and-tackle pulley, and a receiving storage reel for the cable.

FIG. 1 shows part of the support structure or derrick (100) andcirculation system to which the present invention (10) is fixablymounted to. The rotating equipment which is responsible for the actualdrilling of the hole contains a swivel (123), kelly (129), turntable orrotary table ( ) drill string (112), and drill bits (127). The swivel(123) is a large handle that holds the weight of the drill string (112)which allows the drill string (112) to rotate creating a pressure-tightseal on the hole. The drill string (112) is the drill pipe (119) whichconsists of about 30 feet of sections connected by connectors (117), andthe drill collar (110) is a heavier pipe that fits around the drillstring (112) and places weight on the drill bit (127). The drill bit(127) is the part of the rig that actually cuts the rock which is madeout of various materials and in various sizes. The drill bit (127),drill string (112), and drill collar (110) are surrounded by the casing(130).

Air drilling is inexpensive and the fastest way to create a hole. An oilrig that uses air drilling is very similar to the conventional mudoperating oil rigs. However, there are a few major differences in thetype of drill bit (127), circulating fluid which is replaced with air,the use of air compressors, and special downhole and uphole equipmentfor circulating the air.

In the circulation of the air, the air is first compressed at thesurface and is then injected into the drill string (112). The drillstring (112) can have a hollow tube within depending upon whether agood, uncontaminated core sample is required. After injection into thedrill string (112), it passes through the drill bit (127). Drill bits(127) used for air drilling have special holes used for circulation ofthe air. The air with the cuttings passes back through the drill bit(127) through the wellbore annulus which is a gap between and innertube, and up the drill string (112) to the surface. Upon arrival at thesurface, the cuttings enter into a cyclone where the cuttings areseparated from the air.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 1 a, although the present invention is usedinjunction with air drilling, the invention uses water in order tocapture the dust. Therefore, the present invention uses a fluid tank(122) that is attached to the oil rig and will flow through a fluidconnection pipe (13). The fluid connection pipe (13) is a cylindrical instructure and allows the water to flow out of the fluid tank (122) intothe mixing chamber (22).

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 1 a, as mentioned above, after the holeflows into the drilling hole, it flows back through the wellboreannulus, up the drill string (112), and to the surface. With the presentinvention (10), the air with the rock cuttings is diverted into analternative flow line (12). The flow line (12) is a large, cylindricalpipe which contains the mixing chamber (22) where the dust will beturned into mud. As the dust flows through the flow line (12), it willhit a part of the flow line (12)

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the fluid connection pipe (13) isattached to the mixing chamber (22) by way of supporting pipe members(20, 21) that allow the water to flow from the fluid connection pipe(13) into the mixing chamber (22). The supporting pipe members (20, 21)are cylindrical pipes that have inlet ports (30) that extend into themixing chamber (22). The supporting pipe members (20, 21) are connectedto the flow line (12) by way of connecting members (40, 42). The waterflows into the mixing chamber (22) by way of the inlet ports (30).

Referring to FIG. 4 a, as the water flows out of the inlet ports (30),it splashes upon a growler (40). In the preferred embodiment, thegrowler (50) is a small piece of steel that is attached to the top ofthe mixing chamber (22) extending perpendicularly in front of each inletport (30). When the water hits the growler (50), a jet spray action iscreated and allows the water to mix with the dust (43) to create mud(44). The mud (44) is circulated into the shale shakers (124) which areused to remove rock cuttings from the mud (44). The shale shakers (124)consist of flat, wire sheets that vibrate. The mud (44) flows throughthe wire sheets, and the rock cuttings get shaken out of the mud (44).The shale shaker (124) slides the cuttings into the reserve pit (116)which holds the rock cuttings.

In addition to these systems, an oil rig has several other components.There is the casing (117) which is a large concrete pipe which preventsthe hole from collapsing. The derrick (100) is the support structure ofthe drilling apparatus. The blowout preventer (118) stops a blowoutwhich is an uncontrolled gush of gas or oil which can cause a fire. Theblowout preventer (118) consists of high-pressure valves that seal thehigh-pressure drill lines and relieve pressure. (claims completed uponreview)

1. A mixing apparatus for binding dust to a liquid during the airdrilling process used in combination with an oil rig, the apparatuscomprising: a mixing chamber with a hollow interior cavity thereinformed within an air flow pipeline leading from the drill hole of theoil rig; a connection pipeline fixably mounted atop the mixing chamberin a parallel relation and interconnecting fluid tank of the oil rigwith the connection pipeline in fluid communication with the fluid tankfor channeling liquid from the fluid tank into the mixing chamber; aplurality of inlet ports leading into the interior cavity andinterconnecting the connection pipe to the mixing chamber; a growlerperpendicularly mounted within the interior cavity directly in front ofeach inlet port and extending linearly upward wherein as liquid ischanneled from the fluid tank into the cavity a jet spraying action isformed within the cavity wherein dust flowing through the flow line intothe mixing chamber forms a liquid.
 2. The mixing apparatus of claim 1wherein the mixing chamber further comprising: a second pipeline fixablymounted to a side of the mixing chamber; the second pipeline in fluidcommunication with the connection pipeline; a plurality of second inletports leading into the interior cavity and interconnecting the secondpipeline to the mixing chamber; and a growler perpendicularly mountedwithin the interior cavity directly in front of each second inlet portand extending linearly upward therefrom wherein as liquid is channeledfrom the fluid tank into the cavity a jet spraying action is formedwithin the cavity wherein dust flowing through the flow line into themixing chamber forms a liquid.
 3. The mixing apparatus of claim 2wherein the mixing chamber further comprising: an opposing pipelinefixably mounted to an opposite side of the mixing chamber across fromthe second pipe line in a parallel relation; the second pipeline influid communication with the connection pipeline; a plurality of thirdinlet ports leading into the interior cavity and interconnecting theconnection pipe to the mixing chamber; a growler perpendicularly mountedwithin the interior cavity directly in front of each inlet port andextending linearly upward therefrom wherein as liquid is channeled fromthe fluid tank into the cavity a jet spraying action is formed withinthe cavity wherein dust flowing through the flow line into the mixingchamber forms a liquid.
 4. The mixing apparatus of claim 1 wherein thegrowler is made of a hard durable material substantially like steel. 5.A method of binding dust during the air drilling process having adrilling rod with a drilling bit connected to an air flow path line inan oil rig comprising the steps of: (a) providing a dust bindingapparatus with a mixing chamber with a plurality of inlet ports in fluidcommunication with a liquid binding tank and the dust binding apparatusbeing integrally formed within the air flow path line in the oil rig;(b) providing an agitator within the mixing chamber formed by a growlermade of a durable material that extends perpendicularly upward withinthe chamber in front of each inlet port; (c) during the air drillingprocess, feeding the dust through the air flow path line into a mixingchamber of the dust binding apparatus; (d) simultaneously supplyingwater into the mixing chamber of the dust binding apparatus through theinlet ports wherein the water is agitated by the growlers within themixing chamber of the dust binding apparatus causing the dust to bindwith the liquid; and (e) discharging the resultant mixture from themixing chamber into a mud collection apparatus.